Knight Letter No. 50

Knigrht Letter

THE LEWIS CARROLL ^^' SOCIETY OF NORTH AMERICA NUMBER 50 SUMMER 1995

In Alice's Footsteps at the Spring Meeting

The Spring 1 995 meeting of the LCSNA took place at
Columbia University, where Alice Liddell Hargreaves had re-
ceived an honorary Litt.D. in 1 932 in celebration of the cente-
nary of Carroll's birth.

It was a bright and rainy spring morning on the cam-
pus, and although the large politically-charged banners and
amplified gospel choir somewhat dissipated the longed-for
illusion of a wrinkle in time through which we could transport
ourselves back sixty-three years to be present at the ceremo-
nies, spirits ran very high.

Joel opened up the proceedings by saying "For those
of you who don't know me..." only to be interrupted by three
year old Lucy Lovett's declaration, "/know you!", a suitably
Carrollian beginning. Joel, our President, and himself a gradu-
ate of Columbia's historic class of 1968, introduced Jean
Ashton, Director of the Rare Book Room of the Butler Library
in whose halls the fifty of us had gathered, noting that they
have half a million books and tens of thousands of manu-
scripts and works on paper, devoted in the main to Victorian
and children's literature.

Next Andrew Sellon, a most
talented New York actor and writer, per-
formed for us an adaptation of his one-
man stage show Through the Look-
ing Glass Darkly: A Dream Play
About Lewis Carroll with a few able
assists. Dressed up as Dodgson, he
presented more an incarnation than an
impersonation, as his astonishingly
pliable face kept morphing between
Dodgson and Alice, and began the
enchantment with the tinkling sounds
of a Victorian music box. The bitter-
sweet narration and recitations were
drawn almost completely from Carroll's
own words, fortunately for us concen-
trating on the lesser-known works and
not the standard canon. Carroll was a
ghost in this dramatic conceit, returned
from the dead to spend an hour or so

with us - "at least I know who I was when I was alive, but I
think I must have changed several times since then."

Interweaving the "real" and "phantasmic" worlds,
Carroll spoke of his troubled earthly relations with his biog-
rapher and nephew, Charles Dodgson Collingwood, who
"knew absolutely nothing of my relations with Alice", and
gave him cause to remark "if God had placed his final judg-
ment on popular biographies, heaven would be a very strange
place, indeed."

Andrew painted us a picture of Carroll at the beach
with his bag of toys; spoke of Humpty Dumpty as the frag-
ile God-figure of the texts; quoted the poem "I have a fairy
by my side..." and the exquisite letter from his father; and
sketched a character study of the formidable Mrs. Liddell,
Alice's mother, whose idea of entertainment at family pic-
nics was "the Scottish play". Alice herself was painted as a
remarkably artistic spirit - a theology student who had stud-
ied watercolors with John Ruskin, and posed for the emi-
nent photographers Julia Margaret Cameron and C.L.
Dodgson. An afternoon tea party
with the Dean and Mrs. Liddell - the
Mad Hatter and the March Hare -
was recalled, where the stammering
and uncomfortable Reverend
Dodgson must have felt like Alice:
out of place, put upon, and the tar-
get of insultingly personal remarks.
Mrs. Liddell was, in respect to
Dodgson's loving feelings for her
daughter, much like the Queen - "Off
with his head! Sentence first - ver-
dict afterwards."

Andrew's scholarship was
also immaculate, and he brought up
an interesting biographical point.
The redoubtable Mrs. Liddell had
ambitions for her privileged daugh-
ter, culminating in an acquaintance
with Victoria's son, Prince Leopold,
whom she thought a suitable match

Footsteps, continued

for her daughter. This, of course, was said to be a purely
political friendship, as was Alice's unrequiting of the affec-
tions of Mr. Dodgson, but is it not curious her sons were
named Leopold and Caryl?

I found Andrew most entertaining and quite mov-
ing, as his portrayal focused more on the human and emo-
tional sides of Dodgson than purely on the humorous as we
were addressed us from beyond the grave or, put another
way, from the Other Side of the Looking Glass.

Holly Haswell, Curator of Columbiana, then gra-
ciously did her utmost to part the portals of time and invite
the assemblage back to May of 1 932. We viewed a display of
memorabilia including pictures of, and invitations to, the vari-
ous events - which had been postponed, by the way, from
the original cenTenniel of Carroll's birth (January 27th) to
Alice's (May 4th) hoping for better
weather for the transatlantic cross-
ing. Mrs. Hargreaves (and two thou-
sand other souls) celebrated her
eightieth birthday, and she received
an Honorary Doctorate of Letters.
Her citation reads, "May 2, 1932/In
camera/Alice Pleasance Hargreaves/
Litt.D./"Alice in Wonderland'VDe-
scendent of John of Gaunt, time-
honored Lancaster; daughter of that
distinguished Oxford Scholar whose
fame will last until English-speaking
men cease to study the Greek lan-
guage and its immortal literature;
awaking with her girlhood's charm
the ingenious fancy of a mathemati-
cian familiar with imaginary quanti-
ties, stirring him to reveal his com-
plete understanding of the heart of a
child as well as of the mind of a man;
to create imaginary figures and hap-
penings in a language all his own,
making odd phrases and facts to live
on pages which will adorn the litera-
ture of the English tongue, time with-
out end, and which are as charming
as quizzical, and as amusing as fas-
cinating; thereby building a lasting

bridge from the childhood of yesterday to the children of
countless tomorrows-the moving cause, Aristotle's Tb ov
evExaof this truly noteworthy contribution to English litera-
ture."

Caryl Hargreaves remarked "Soft music was play-
ing... One feels deeply moved by the ceremony (which was)
almost unreal in its beauty." Mrs. Hargreaves hoped that he
(Mr. Dodgson) would be looking down on me now. I shall
remember it all my life."

The printed program for the centenary listed an
"Alice in Wonderland Suite" composed by Edgar Stillman

... Awaking with her
girlhood's charm
the ingenious fancy
of a mathematician
familiar with
imaginary
quantities, stirring
him to reveal his
complete
understanding of
the heart of a child
as well as the mind
of a man ...

Kelley, sung by the Women's Chorus and Orchestra. [Query
- does anyone know of the existence of a recording or sheet
music for this historical piece?]

Of course, most of us have seen the newsreel foot-
age of those events and Dreamchild which was, according
to Ms. Haswell "unfortunately filmed in England..." [among
other factual liberties - don't get me started - ed]. But being
able to commune with Alice's spirit on the very campus where
she had once trod was a pure delight.

Charles Lovett presented us next with some busi-
ness - the Mathematical Pamphlets project is well underway
under the capable direction of Fran Abeles; the Proceedings
of the Second International Lewis Carroll Conference will
be published; and the Stan Marx fund has been established.
Details of these are elsewhere in this issue.

William Appleton, an En-
glish Professor for over thirty years
here at Columbia (he retired in 1 975)
is a droll and knowledgeable speaker
(despite his description of his talk as
"senile meanderings") who is the
grandchild of his namesake, the first
American publisher of The Books.
Beginning by saying he had no fear
of us, as he had previously faced, at
Oxford, "the most terrifying of Secret
Societies" (Jane Austin's), he went
on to narrate the history of his
grandfather's company in a talk en-
titled "Alice's First Trip to America".
The two of them, grandfather and
grandson, had met only once, in 1 925 .
The first William Appleton
was an anglophile from a distin-
guished family which had arrived in
America in 1635. He ran the family
dry goods business (started in 1 83 1 ),
but developed a hankering for pub-
lishing, despite the ill health which
forced him to leave Harvard. His first
big "best-seller" was a gossipy
"scandal sheet" a la Barbara Cartland
involving the court of the Holy Ro-
man Emperor Joseph II. He also pub-
lished the memoirs of Generals Sheridan and Sherman (going
behind enemy lines to do so); the first editions of The Red
Badge of Courage, Tales of Uncle Remus (the adventures of
a child among anthropomorphic animals, illustrated by Arthur
B. Frost) and Wharton's Age of Innocence; and works of
Huxley, Spencer and Darwin.

The story of the first American Alice has been told
umpteen times, so it quite was fascinating to hear from "the
horse's (grandson's) mouth": Appleton's discovery of the
rejected 972 copies of unbound sheets in a dusty hallway at
Macmillan; that his grandfather respected Carroll's copyright,

despite the lack of any such laws at the time, and despite it
being in a time of civil war; the controversy of whether the
books were in fact bound in England or the States. He also
demonstrated through slides that an early printing of an il-
lustration of Alice showed her "disorderly, dissipated, with
circles under eyes and mascara running, after one too many
'Drink Me's' but she was cleaned up in a later edition." Even-
tually, the Appleton company became an educational and
scientific publisher, and was ultimately swallowed up by Cen-
tury.

Michael Patrick Hearn, one of the charter (found-
ing) members of our Society, and author of The Annotated
Wizard of Oz, The Annotated Christmas Carol, and The An-
notated Huckleberry Finn among a host of other writings,
next addressed us on the subject "Why is Tenniel Peren-
nial?". Tenniel was England's premier cartoonist, best known
for his wood engravings, a book of nursery rhymes pub-
lished in 1842, and a series of Aesop's Fables published in
Punch, when he collaborated with Carroll in illustratingv4//ces
Adventures. The collaboration, although stormy at times
[when Morton Cohen was later that morning asked if he
thought that Carroll gave Tenniel a hard time, replied, "No,
but there is evidence that Tenniel gave Carroll a bad time"],
produced of course an eternal masterpiece, of which the il-
lustrations were an integral part. The text often dialectically
refers the reader to the illustrations as the only description of
character and setting, a technique Tenniel had earlier seen in
Little Goody Two Shoes. Michael opined that Tenniel 's ani-
mals were more emblematic and less human or realistic than
those of his counterparts.

Did Tenniel use a model, specifically Mary Hilton
Badcock, for Alice? "Tenniel no more needed a model than
Lewis Carroll needed a multiplication table" - drawing straight
from his head. The lecture was rife with slides of Tenniel's
work, some of which was self-borrowed for the Alice books,
such as the frontispiece to Charles Henry Bennett's Aesop's
Fables which had remarkable similarities to the frontispiece
of Wonderland. We also saw the several states of the illus-
trations, taken from the engraver's (the brothers Dalziel) scrap-
books in the British Museum. These were made into wood
engravings, then into wax molds, and finally into ferrotypes
(iron plates) from which they were printed.

Through the Looking Glass has many ingenious
applications of "The Book as Object", an art form of particu-
larly modern sensibilities: the disappearance through the
Looking Glass and re-emergence on the backside of the page
in a parallel (reversed) illustration; the similar disappearance
of the Cheshire Cat; the metamorphosis of the sheep's shop,
and the enantiomorphic resemblance of the brothers Tweedle,
reflecting his experimentation with the medium. Dodgson, it
is said, only liked one illustration: Humpty Dumpty. Posterity
has proved him wrong.

We adjourned to a splendid cocktail party at Janet
Jurist's amid promises to convene again in Cleveland Ohio
on October 28th.

The Society's New Officers

In our last issue we profiled several of the new of-
ficers elected at the Twentieth Anniversary Meeting last
November. Here we continue the profiles, generally in their
own words.

Board Member Kay Rossman, profiled in detail in
KL#39 (Autumn 1 99 1 ), now lives with her husband Newell in
Sarasota, Florida, but for many years was an important mem-
ber of the Syracuse (NY) University community. A volunteer
for library and literacy projects, she got hooked on Carroll
when she managed the Cheshire Cat Gift Shop, which spe-
cialized in Carrolliana. Book collecting was a natural evolve-
ment {Alice illustrators being a specialty), as was the Soci-
ety, and she and Newell are among the more familiar faces at
meetings, as they rarely have missed one since 1982.

As a new member of the board, Stephanie Lovett
Stoffel enters the corridors of power after years of unofficial
service to the LCSNA. Having worked on a variety of Soci-
ety projects and publications, she now has something more
conventional to tell people ("Come, tell me how you live,"
they cry, "And what it is you do!") As Stephanie concur-
rently sits on the board of directors of the Lewis Carroll
Foundation, her friends will be closely observing her for
signs of absolute corruption.

She and her then-husband Charles began their
Carroll collection, which they still maintain, in 1 984, but bio-
graphical research dates her interest back to age seven, by
means of a diary entry boasting about having read Alice's
Adventures and Through the Looking Glass. After having
read a great many more books, Stephanie wrote an M.A.
thesis about the effect of the various sets of Alice illustra-
tions on the meaning of the story, the basis of lectures for
the LCSNA and the Smithsonian Campus-on-the-Mall. She
is pleased to report that her small daughter has already an-
nounced that she wants to have Alice stuff of her own when
she grows up. These days, Stephanie's main non-Carroll
pursuits are said daughter and watercolor painting - the paint-
ing is more difficult to pursue, but the daughter runs faster.

A profile of August A. Imholtz, Jr., past President
and now member of the Board, appeared in KL#33 (Autumn-
Winter 1 989). "Since that time there have been, unfortunately,
no signs of improvement despite the best efforts of many
fine people. He still regularly attends LCSNA meetings,
haunts book stores for Alice books, writes the occasional
odd note on Carroll, which goes some way to explain the sad
state in which contemporary literary criticism in this country
finds itself, and is now helping A.M. Roushaylo to prepare
for publication a bilingual Russian-English bibliography of
the first 1 15 years of Russian translations of Alice. Having
barely escaped Princeton alive after addressing the Twenti-
eth Anniversary meeting, he delivered a lecture on "Lewis
Carroll and the Classics" at the Third Conference of the In-
ternational Society for the Classical Tradition held at Boston
University, March 8-12, 1995."

New Officers, continued

When not occupied with the treasury of the LCSNA
or with explicating Charles Dodgson's writings on mathemati-
cal topics, or with editorial duties for the international jour-
nal, Modern Logic, Fran Abeles can be found in the depart-
ment of mathematics and computer science at Kean College
of New Jersey where she is a professor and head of the
department's graduate program.

Her deep interest in Dodgson as a mathematician
began with the reading of a passage from Alice at bedtime
nearly twenty years ago:

"Four times five is twelve, and four times six is thir-
teen, and four times seven is - oh dear! I shall never get to
twenty at that rate."

Finding a note by Alexander L. Taylor explaining
the passage in Martin Gardner's Annotated Alice inadequate,
Fran went on to create a complete multiplication table (144
entries) in which one can see the pattern Dodgson had in
mind.

A long-term project she has recently begun is the
collecting and editing of Dodgson's mathematical letters and
pamphlets, to be published by the LCSNA. She would like to
hear from anyone with copies of such letters. You can reach
her by phone at (908) 527-2493, by snailmail at Kean College,
Dept. Math. & Comp. Sciences, Union NJ 07083, or by email
at fabeles@luau.kean.edu.

Dear Readers -

It has been suggested that we tape record the talks
at meetings for folks who can't attend. Would this be useful
to our members? Of course you would have to pay the cost
of the tape or tapes and they would not include any visual
aids. If you would be interested in such an arrangement write
the editor. If there is enough interest we will look further into
the matter.

And, most importantly: the LCSNA needs j^ow! We
have several proposed projects that we need help to get
accomplished. At the last board meeting we discussed
whether we were effectively making our presence known to
prospective new members. How do people find out that we
exist? We are listed in the directory of organizations and we
also have a presence on the Internet now. Folks find out
about us when they find one of our publications, but is this
sufficient? We think that there are probably low cost means
of publicizing our organization and we could use some pro-
fessional help. If there are any publicists on our rolls who
would like to donate their efforts to our cause please notify
us.

We would also like to look at creating guides for
teachers at various levels to use for teaching Carroll in their
English/Literature classes. I know we have teachers in our
midst. Are there any that would like to help in this effort?

Another project entails creating packages of mate-
rial to facilitate members who wish to mount exhibits. The

idea is to have a set of information sheets and general exhibit
labels for categories of items (illustrated Alices, parodies,
reference books, biographies etc.) A member could request a
package and pick the labels suitable for their specific exhibit.
There would of course be a sheet on the LCSNA, which
would aid in solving our publicity issue.

Other possible projects include creating a map of
Carroll/Alice related sites in the U.S. and abroad, and listing
large collections and their high points. We also would like to
expand our presence on the Internet. If anyone has ideas
along that line, pass them to us. We could use help with
distribution of our publications. We need to establish a pro-
gram committee to help plan future meetings. If you have any
ideas or the desire to work on any project, please do contact
us. Groups of geographically dispersed individuals can work
well on these projects, as there is no absolute need to physi-
cally meet. Telephones, postal service, and electronic mail
allow the necessary contact.

I believe that the more intercommunication we have
in the Society outside of structured meetings, the stronger
the Society will be. If you were waiting for a formal invitation
to participate, consider this it. As you can see, there is no
end to what we can accomplish with your help. Feel free to
call me, Joel Birenbaum, at (708) 637-8530 (collect if neces-
sary) or for those in less of a hurry, 2765 Shellingham Drive,
Lisle, IL 60532.

While we're soliciting feedback, may I mention that
our editor is having an identity crisis, and would very much
like to receive feedback. Do you want the Knight Letter to be
more visual? Have more articles not directly related to the
machinations of the Society, but more on Carroll in general?
Should we publish "letters to the editor"? How free should
he feel to play with the format? Please write him (address on
last page).

Adventures in Retail-Land

A marvelous, permanent and faithful trip through
Wonderland is now available to Los Angeleans. Frye's Elec-
tronics, a huge (1 14,000' sq.) consumer electronics retailer
opened a store in June ingeniously designed by Eric
Christensen. A thirty-foot trip through the rabbit hole leads
you to a fountain of Alice in stone, with topiary trees of the
Caucus Race. Giant (12' - 20') foam and fiberglass characters
abound, surrounded by murals. Chandeliers with oysters,
hookahs, or tea settings hang from the ceiling. You can walk
under a huge glass table with a key atop, lounge at a sea-
scape with the Mock Turtle, Gryphon, Walrus, and the Car-
penter (the television display), walk under a giant mushroom
looking up at the Caterpillar (the computer section), visit the
Duchess' cottage (the presentation room), or sit down at the
table with the characters at the Mad Tea Party (the snack
bar). A huge pack of cards hovers over your head, a chess-
board under your feet. 6 1 00 Canoga Avenue, Woodland Hills
CA91367.

Dear Friends,

On July 1 3, 1 994, the Lewis Carroll Society of
North America lost its greatest friend, founder Stan
Marx. Stan's death has left a great void in the world of
Lewis Carroll. He served as president of our Society,
series editor of The Complete Pamphlets of Lewis
Carroll, and as a member of the Society's executive
board for twenty years. Stan also started the Lewis
Carroll Foundation and raised over $6000 to help pur-
chase the land on which Carroll's birthplace stood. Since
Stan's death, the LCSNA has worked to find an appro-
priate way to honor his memory. To this end, we have
established the Stan Marx Endowed Memorial Program.
Income from this endowment will be used to fund pro-
grams in areas which were important to Stan, including
Lewis Carroll, literature, books, and education.

A committee of the LCSNA will administer the
endowment, which will be used only for programs out-
side our own Society. This establishment of an out-
reach fund will not only help us all remember Stan and
the things he held dear, but will also spread Stan's spirit
to many others as well. Through a private effort, over
$8000 has been raised so far to fund this endowment.

Now 1 would like to ask each of you to con-
sider what gift you are able to make to this important
fund. I hope, to show our appreciation to the few do-
nors who provided the first $8000, that we will able to
at least double and possibly triple that amount. To show
our appreciation for your generosity, the first 1 8 do-
nors who contribute $50 or more will receive a copy of
the beautiful limited edition (75 copies) memorial keep-
sake that was created to mark our 20th anniversary
meeting and to remember Stan. The keepsake includes
a re-creation of Stan's transposition of "Jabberwocky"
into the Shaw Alphabet. Only 1 8 copies of the limited
issue remain. Other donors who contribute $50 or more
will receive a copy of the second printing, as long as
supplies last. Stan was a dear friend to this Society and
to many of us individually. If you knew Stan, I know
you will want to give generously to this fund. If you
did not have the privilege of knowing him, 1 hope you
will enthusiastically support this program - through
that support, you might come a little closer to under-
standing this remarkable and wonderful man. Please
send contributions to: Stan Marx Memorial Fund, c/o
Charlie Lovett, 1 07 1 4 W. 1 28th Ct., Overland Park, KS,
66213. All donations are tax deductible to the extent
allowed by law.

Sincerely,
Charlie Lovett

Mad Hatter Day

Joel's son Josh picked this off the Net:

"Mad Hatter Day is a holiday in October. It fills
the need for a second crazy day in the year, almost exactly
half a year from April Fools' Day. The real spirit of Mad
Hatter Day is turnabout: the nonsense we usually have to
pretend is sane can be called madness for one day in the
year; the superficially crazy things that really make sense
can be called sane on Mad Hatter Day.

Mad Hatter Day is 10/6. The date was chosen from
the illustrations in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, wherein
the Mad Hatter is always seen wearing a hat bearing a slip of
paper with the notation 'In this style 10/6'. We take this as
inspiration to behave in the style of the Mad Hatter on 10/6
(which is October 6 here and June 1 0 in Britain). Some astute
observers have noted that the paper in the Mad Hatter's Hat
was really an order to make a hat in the style shown, to cost
ten shillings sixpence. However, it is well known that Time Is
Money, and therefore Money Is Time, and therefore 10/6
may as well be the sixth of October.

Mad Hatter Day began in Boulder, Colorado, in 1 986,
among some computer folk who had nothing better to do. It
was immediately recognized as valuable because they caused
less damage than if they'd been doing their jobs. It was an-
nounced that first year on computer networks. In 1987 it
gained minor local recognition. In 1988, it was first recog-
nized as an official holiday by an area business, and also
received its first national press coverage by news services.

Detailed plans for this year's Mad Hatter Day ob-
servance will, of course, be announced on October 7. We
have found that plans made after the fact are more accurate
and much easier to have fulfilled. Or, as the Red Queen said,
'sentence first, then the verdict!1

What do people do on Mad Hatter Day? In general,
celebrate silliness. But what if your work involves something
inherently silly — say marketing, where you put on a three-
piece suit in the summertime, tie a piece of cloth around your
neck to restrict blood flow to the brain, and set about trying
to convince people to buy things they don't want and can't
afford? In this case, doing something absolutely sane will
have a more startling effect than you can possibly imagine."

Serendipity Department

From the Jewish Times:

Question from reader: Is it true Art Garfunkel got his
big break playing a cat?

Answer: It certainly is true. Mr. Garfunkel was at
grammar school in Forest Hills, New York, when he
won the coveted role of the Cheshire Cat in Alice in
Wonderland. Another of the show's key performers
was the boy starring as the White Rabbit. His name
was Paul Simon.

Carrollian
Notes

Biography

Professor Morton Cohen's long-anticipated biog-
raphy, due in October from Random House/Vintage, weighs
in at 592 must-read pages, with 135 illustrations, and is listed
at $35.00. A detailed review will appear here coinciding with
its release, but for titillation purposes, we will quote from the
publisher's precis: "This brilliant and definitive biography of
the great author of the Alice books draws its power from
Morton Cohen's three decades of unsurpassed Lewis Carroll
scholarship, from his unique access to Carroll letters and
diaries and Dodgson family archives never before made use
of, from his profound psychological and empathic under-
standing of his subject, and from his own intellectual and
narrative grace."

Kudos

The April 8 London Times Magazine column titled
"Enter Password" had a list of "All-Time-Great Web Sites at
This Point In Time". The list had 20 web sites, which were a
mixture of the useful and the strange. I don't know if the list
was rank ordered (I doubt it), but the Lewis Carroll Home
Page was number six on the list! We were after the Quilting
page and before the Rolling Stones page. As there was no
criteria explicated for the selection I can't claim it was due to
the content - I'll bet it had more to do with the subject (and it
was something "suitable" for the Times). But publicity is
publicity. - Joel Birenbaum

Proceedings

From June 9-12,1 994, fifty delegates to the Second
International Lewis Carroll Conference met at the Graylyn
Executive Conference Center of Wake Forest University in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina. During the conference, talks
were given covering the entire range of contemporary Carroll
studies, from biography to bibliography, from literary criti-
cism to popular culture. These talks have now been collected
and published in a 192-page hardcover book titled The Pro-
ceedings of the Second International Lewis Carroll Confer-
ence. This volume represents a world view of Carroll, his
works, his times, and his impact on society and culture. It
also captures some of the magic of those four "happy sum-
mer days" when the spirit of Carroll and his dream-child Alice
came alive. The Proceedings is the largest collection of new
Carroll studies published in over a decade, containing con-
tributions from nineteen Carroll scholars and enthusiasts.
Some highlights include: Morton N. Cohen's "Reeling and
Writhing with Lewis Carroll", Christina Bjork's "What Was
Behind Alice's Nursery Door?", Edward Wakeling's "Mrs.
Hargreaves Comes to the U.S.A.", Selwyn Goodacre's "The
Nineteenth-Century American Alice", Donald Rackin's "Sexu-
ality in the Alice Books", Francine F. Abeles' "Algorithms
and Mechanical Processes in the Work of Charles L.
Dodgson", Elizabeth Sewell's "What Took You Through the
Looking-Glass?", Frankie Morris' "Tenniel's American Car-
toons", Jan Susina's "Imitations of Alice — Lewis Carroll and
the Anxiety of Influence", and Anne Clark Amor's "C. L.
Dodgson: An Englishman Abroad". Copies of the regular
edition (hardback, dust jacket, 192 pages) are $1 5 for mem-
bers, $25 for non-members. Publication date was June 1 . A
Deluxe edition, signed by the contributors, will be available
for $50. This editions will be limited to 50 copies, and will be
available sometime this summer. Orders will be processed on
a first come, first served basis. Please send orders to: LCSNA
Publications, c/o Ellie Luchinsky, 1 8 Fitzharding Place, Ow-
ing Mills, MD, 21 117.

From Our Eyebeams Twisted, © 1985 Sam Hurt, Blunt Books

THE TIME HAS COME,' THE UALRUS SAID,

'TO TALK OF MAW THINGS-
OF SHOES-AMD SHIPS- AND SEALING UAX-
OF CWBBA6K-AND KINGS

UELL, OF COURtf! AFTER ALL, WE
HALLUCINATIONS TEND TO STICK TOGETHER

From Our ra^-^om^

Exhibits

"Alice in Wonderland with Jump Rope"
is among 17 bronze statues, based on
artist Salvador Dali 's projects, that went
on display in May in the Place Vendome
in Paris.

Moscow's Museum of Ex-Libris hosted
an exhibit October 1 2-30 of several hun-
dred items from Alexander Milkhailovich
Rushailo's magnificent collection. Origi-
nal drawings from the Russian language
editions, which number now over a hun-
dred - including a 1 9 1 3 translation made
by Mikhail Chekhov (whose brother
Anton also fancied himself a writer) -
were on display.

Disney's Epcot Center in Florida has
added a "Global Neighborhood" inter-
active exhibit as an adjunct to its popu-
lar Spaceship Earth ride. In partnership
with AT&T, the Disney "imagineers"
designed an "Interactive Wonderland"
to showcase the latest Bell Labs tech-
nology. You are greeted by the Cheshire
Cat, and are your own guide through
Alice's adventures as she tries to find
her missing cat. Behind the scene are
voice recognition software, and C++ ob-
ject-oriented programs running a con-
trol script on a remote laser disk.

Newsletters

The Wonderland-Spiegel ("Wonder-
land-Mirror") is a Dutch news bulletin
for Alice collectors that "aims to inform
and connect all interested in Lewis
Carroll. The magazine is edited and pub-
lished by Peter Kuipers. Three or four
issues a year are planned. Foreign sub-
scriptions are welcomed and include a
separate summary in English." Four is-
sues are already in print, back issues
are available. Write for an order form to
Wonderland-Spiegel, Peter Kuipers,
Lipper-kerkstraat24, 75 1 1 DA Enschede,
The Netherlands.

The Daresbury Lewis Carroll Society
publishes Stuff and Nonsense, edited by

&

orrespoft

de,«fe

Kenn Oultram. It is free to members, 1 0/
6 (of course) to non-members. The is-
sue I have in hand does not contain an
address, but the editor's phone is listed
as '0606 891 303', and the chairman,
George Killip, who recently celebrated
his eightieth birthday, can be reached
at 84 Top Road, Kingsley, Cheshire
WA68BX, England. It's not exactly a
slick publication, but the contents are
quite charming.

Martha 's KidLit Newsletter specializes
in children's books and is written for col-
lectors and dealers by LCSNA member
Martha Rasmussen. A yearly subscrip-
tion is available for $30. Box 1 488, Ames
I A 500 1 4. Her Spring 1 995 issue reports
on our meeting in New York.

Entertainments

The Royal National Theatre in England
opened Alice !$ Adventures Under-
ground in November, described as "a
play with dance" written by Christopher
Hampton and choreographed by
Martha Clarke. The play evolved from a
series of workshops at the National
Theatre, and featured many well-known
actors. It is described as "not suitable
for children under the age of twelve as
it does touch upon some aspects of
Carroll's private life" whatever that
means.

Phoenicians (denizens of Phoenix AZ)
were treated [?] to Ballet Arizona's Alice
in Wonderland in February and March.
To quote the ad, "A Mad Hatter on a
skateboard, the Cheshire Cat on
Rollerblades and singing red lobsters
in scuba gear? It's a totally new Alice
on a zany and wild trip that you won't
want to miss. With music by Bach and
the Red Hot Chilli Peppers." Sic. Chil-
ean choreographer Michael Uthoff took
on the MTV generation by setting Won-
derland in the big city, in this large-bud-

get, extravagantly costumed, and visu-
ally innovative production.

Simultaneously, Salt Lake Cityans were
being entertained by Ben Stevenson's
identically named, but more traditional
ballet. The "vibrant and exotic cos-
tumes" were based on Tenniel's draw-
ings, and the production was aimed at
introducing young children to the dance
form.

I was in Prague in March, but unfortu-
nately was unable to seeAspects of Alice,
a Czech "Blacklight Theater" produc-
tion, which is ongoing. I was charmed
by the brochure, however, and beg your
indulgence in quoting it in full.

"7a Fantastika, typical Czech theatre
company welcomes you for an evening
of fantasy. Following the aged tradition
of the Czech trick and animated film
made by Jiri Trnka, Hermina Tyrlova,
and Karel Zeman, this theatre group
now prepared a new performance of live
animation on a theme of poetic paint-
ings by an outstanding Czech artist
Emma Srncova. Close link between the
paintings of Emma Srncova and the his-
tory and the present of the city of Prague
was the main stimulation for compiling
up this theme. The specific trick possi-
bilities of this theatre will this time be
enriched by a combination of the black-
light theatre, live actors and also by the
classical animated film, especially made
for this performance. Mysterious, quiet
corners of historic parts of Prague sud-
denly become a bizarre colorit of erotic
dreams of a young girl. Her imagination
overcomes limits of ages and therefore
through her we can both meet and
spend a love affair with king Charles 4th,
we then let ourselves be pursued by the
sensual view of the legendary old time
Prague's Golem, make love to a chaste
novice, or listen to an amorous serenade
played on his own beard. We leave the
reality of the everyday life and cling
glasses with the imagination. A chaste

sensuality evokes the fanciful world of

Continued

Far-flung, continued
Caroll's "Alice through the looking
glass", but this time not of Alice - a
child, but Alice - a young girl, in some
free continuing of that world known
story." Ta Fantastika, Palac Unitaria,
Praha 1 , Karlova 8, Czech Republic.

Publications

The Literary Products of the Lewis
Carroll - George MacDonald Friend-
ship, by John Docherty, from the Ed-
ward Mellen Press in Wales (U.S.
$1 09.95), can be ordered in the U.S. by
phone at (716) 754-2788. "The relation-
ship between the two writers can be
seen as an outstanding illustration of
Blake's dictum that 'Opposition is True
Friendship.'"

Mostly Monsters, edited by Steven
Zorn, illustrated by John Bradley and
published by Courage Books, an imprint
of Running Press, Philadelphia ( 1 994) is
a large format book containing a two-
page spread of Jabberwocky. Once
again, as in his Alice, Bradley's style
resembles early Steadman with a little
touch of Star Wars™.

Time Magazine's special Cyberspace
issue (Spring 1 995) featured an interwo-
ven series of AT&T ads based on fairy
tale characters. Alice was pressed into
duty to advertise "Language Line Ser-
vices" and was portrayed by a prepu-
bescent Black girl.

Inventing Wonderland by Jackie
Wullschlager, "The Lives and Fantasies
of Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear, J M Barrie,
Kenneth Grahame, and A A Milne ... A
portrait of five writers who could not
grow up, and who transformed their
longing for childhood into a literary revo-
lution" is published by Methuen.

CD-ROM

Europress Software has created anAlice
in Wonderland CD-ROM, the first in its
Living Classics series, featuring colored
animations of the Tenniel illustrations,
audio recreations with Shakespearean
actors of some of the dialogue, and sev-
eral interactive games. It was created
using their own "Klik and Play" multi-
media creation tool. It can also be played
on an ordinary CD player. Europa House,
Adlington Park, Macclesfield SKI 0 4NP,
England.

Miscellania

An 1930s vintage Alice in Wonderland
ceramic "Loving Cup" was offered at
auction by Sotheby's of London, esti-
mated at £200-3 00.

A set of three Philippine-made AW
candleholders (Alice, Hatter, White
Rabbit) of fabric and metal are offered
by the Good Catalog Company of Port-
land, OR, individually or $45 for the set.
Call 1-800-225-3870. Also from 1-800-
CELEBRATEfor$42.

A spectacular gold rhinestone-en-
crusted Judith Leiber "Humpty
Dumpty" handbag with a smaller
Humpty purse nestled within is avail-
able from Bergdorf Goodman or Neiman
Marcus for the piddly sum of $3,400.

An original Dodgson gold-toned albu-
men print of Julia and Ethel Arnold (the
former is the mother of Aldous Huxley)
appeared in Art and Antiques - March
1 994 as being offered for sale for $ 1 6,000
at the International Photography Art
Dealers Show.

The What On Earth Catalog offers a few
items of sartorial interest: a long-sleeved
(mock) turtle-necked Alician T-shirt

with dozens of the Tenniel drawings on
a black background ($39.95); a Cheshire
Cat planter ($39.95); and a wild Cheshire
Cat T-shirt ($ 1 6.95). Call 1 -2 1 6-963-3000
for a catalog.

PastTimes of England "Fine Gifts from
Great Britain Inspired by the Past"
Christmas 1994 catalog lists many items
- "Alice's Secret Diary", a chess set,
stained glass, a notecard wallet, etc. 1-
800-621-6020.

Sandor Burstein and the Mrs. have just
returned from a trip to Wales which in-
cluded a literal trip through the Rabbit
Hole in the company of Murray and
Muriel Ratcliffe, proprietors. Although
perhaps a bit overexhuberant about
Carroll's connections to the beach town
(yes, he did visit there often but, no, he
didn't conceive of, or write the books
there), their catalog is available from The
Rabbit Hole Limited, 3-4 Trinity Square,
Llandudno, Gwynedd, North Wales,
LL302PY,U.K.

Tom Chislett produces hand-painted
miniature figurines which are detailed
representations of the original Tenniel
illustrations. Each piece is exquisitely
hand-made in Folkestone, England. The
set consists of 18 characters, some
rarely included in sets such as the Red
Knight, the Lion, the White Knight and
the Red King as well as most of the fa-
vorites. The pieces are 1 VA - 2" tall and
each comes in a leatherette box simulat-
ing a fine Alice book. They were re-
cently advertised by The Falls Village
Gift & Antique Shop for $40 each, but
are being offered to members of the
LCSNA at $30. P.O.Box 296, No. 23,
Route 7, Falls Village, CT 0603 1 . Phone
800 643- 4558 or internationally 1 203
824 1440 - call Thursday through Sun-
day from 1 1 to 5 p.m. EST.

For assistance in preparing this issue, we would like to thank Fran Abeles, Joel Birenbaum, Carolyn Buck, Sandor
Burstein, Elizabeth Erickson, August Imholtz, Janet Jurist, Charlie Lovett, Ellie Luchinsky, Kay Rossman, Genevieve
Smith, Lucille Posner, and Stephanie Stoffel.

Knight Letter is the official newsletter of the Lewis Carroll Society of North America. It is published quarterly and is
distributed free to all memebers. Subscriptions, business correspondence, and inquiries should be addressed to the
Secretary, LCSNA, 1665 34th Street NW, Washington DC 20007. Annual membershipdues are $20 (regular) and $50
(sustaining). Submissions and editorial correspondence should be sent to the Editor, Mark Burstein, P.O. Box 2006,
Mill Valley CA 94942, or via email at mxburste@bechtel.com.